


The Nightmare

by Grumperella



Series: Febuwhump 2021: The Mandalorian Misadventures [4]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Adorable Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din is a good dad, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Good Parent Din Djarin, Grogu | Baby Yoda Needs a Hug, ManDadlorian, Memories of Order 66, Protective Din Djarin, Repressed Memories, Sad Grogu | Baby Yoda, Soft Din Djarin, become Nightmares, remember... when Anakin murdered all the little kids, this kid lived through a shitshow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29363190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grumperella/pseuds/Grumperella
Summary: Febuwhump Prompt Day 6: Insomnia___After leaving Corvus, Grogu just. won't. sleep. Din does his best.___Takes place between Ep. 13 & 14.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda
Series: Febuwhump 2021: The Mandalorian Misadventures [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156874
Comments: 7
Kudos: 69





	The Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Re-post from my existing Febuwhump series, because I'm transitioning the multi-chap fit into a series.

Darkness… he could feel darkness coming. It smothered his senses, pierced the peace he’d held in his heart. It was hard to breathe... Grogu opened his eyes. Soft, yellow light was filtering through the windows of the temple. The world was quiet, muffled. He couldn’t hear Sors or Whie. Looking up, he saw crèche master Anoona standing in the doorway. Her aura glowed as it always did, and Grogu cooed happily to see her. Master Anoona smiled at him serenely.

“It’s time for your classes, little one.” She said, holding out a hand. He tilted his head curiously. The hand reaching out was leather gloved with orange fingertips and gleaming silver on the wrist. _Home_... the Force whispered to him. 

Grogu was beside her then, waddling down the halls of the temple. The air was heavy, dust motes drifting in the colored sunlight that spilled through stained glass. Untroubled, he looked up at her towering form, watching her long mauve lekku wave as they walked. As usual, his eyes were drawn to the shining metal at her hip. It glinted in the soft light and he felt a burst of excitement. He wanted one. It was shiny and smooth and one day he’d be able to just… reach it…

He stopped abruptly, ears dropping flat against his head. _Darkness_ was coming… the feeling returned. It filled him with dread, paralyzing him with fear. He and Anoona stood in front of the class chamber now… he could see his crèchemates inside, practicing with their own shiny sticks. Master Drallig stood there, arms crossed silently. 

The dread seized him. Couldn’t they feel the darkness? Couldn’t _anyone_ feel it? Grogu reached up fearfully, cooing and trying to make them understand. Usually the masters could _understand_ him… why weren’t they _listening?_ Anoona just smiled down at him. Draalig was talking to the other children and Grogu couldn’t understand why they didn’t run! He was scared, he was _scared_. 

He wanted to leave. He didn’t want to be here anymore, with the dark feeling encroaching like some stalking monster. He wanted his hammock, he wanted to go _home_ -

_... a fleeting memory of metal and cloth, the smell of blaster scoring, strong arms..._

\- but Grogu found he couldn’t move. His fear swelled. 

And suddenly, _the darkness was there_. 

It pooled into the room, soaking it in a cloying, dripping hate, a hate so black that it ate up all the light. A red glow flashed. He tried to run but he was frozen in fear. Cooing and crying pitifully Grogu bent into a ball on the ground and tried to cover his face with his hands, but red light flared hot and he looked up, only to see Master Anoona impaled, a crimson blade protruding from her chest. She fell to the floor before him, her wide, shocked eyes finding his. A sanguine blaze slashed behind her and Drallig’s head rolled between them, a horrific expression frozen on his face. Grogu only closed his eyes and cried harder. 

_The darkness was coming for him_. 

It had hate in its heart and piercing, yellow eyes. It was shadow and pain and loss. Grogu could feel it, _he could feel it_. Hands over his eyes, he could hear the screams and cries of his crèchemates. The gurgle of Sors dying on the ground. The sounds of the temple burning around him. The howling of the Force. He cried and cried and clenched his eyes shut and feared.

Suddenly, a humming sound, terrifyingly close.

“Found you,” whispered a low, sinister voice. 

* * *

The sudden, loud wailing startled Din out of his sleep like a lightning bolt. Jerking upright on his cot, he had his blaster in his hand in a split second, body tense, aiming at the closed door of their bunk space. Confused and still half asleep, Din kept his blaster trained on the door as he shuffled hurriedly towards the hammock where the child lay squalling, little tri-digit hands pressed against his eyes as he cried. 

“Kid?!” Din asked breathlessly, heart in his throat. Sitting up on his knees, Din could see into the hammock and urgently used his free hand to reach in and press against the kid's chest, feeling around and checking him for injuries. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary... other than the kid’s scrunched, weeping face as he hiccuped and bawled.

Realizing that there wasn’t a threat in the ship, Din released a short, relieved breath and tossed his gun onto the bed so that he could reach up with both hands to pull the little body out of the hammock. The toddler didn’t resist, body curled into a ball, still keening high pitched cries. Din cradled the little bundle in his arms, frantically bouncing him.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, kid. G-Grogu, I’ve got you bud.” He still wasn’t used to using the kid’s name, and it was with some amazement that he realized he could actually use it… _his name_. The toddler opened his wet eyes just enough to look up at Din, reaching for the man desperately.

Face crumpling in sympathy, Din sat back on the bed and scooted back until his back wedged against the durasteel wall. He pressed the kid’s face into his shoulder, holding him close as he gently rocked him, trying to soothe him. His own racing heart was finally starting to slow.

“You have another nightmare?” He murmured sympathetically, then frowned. “Musta been a real bad one this time...”

-

As alarming as it was, this wasn’t the first time the kid had woken him like this. Ever since they’d left Corvus, the child hadn’t been sleeping well… or at all, really. It was a 5 day trip at least to Typhon, and Din had hoped to enjoy his last days with the little one as best he could, but it seemed the universe couldn’t even give him that. 

Since they’d entered hyperspace, Grogu had been quiet, moody and wouldn’t go down for naps or bedtime at night. At first Din thought the kid was just being stubborn, upset that Din wanted him to go with the Jedi. But after a few frantic awakenings where the kid dropped from the hammock to curl beside him, weeping softly or woke Din to the sound of whimpers as the kid blubbered into his blanket, Din realized there might be something else going on.

What had the woman said? That the kid had been raised in some Jedi temple… that he’d been taken from there, that his memories turned dark… Din didn’t know what the kid had gone through, but considering the sorrow he’d see in Ahsoka’s face when she shared that memory, he figured it had to be bad. Maybe sharing his story with Ahsoka had dredged up memories better left forgotten…

Understanding what the kid was trying to escape, Din couldn’t blame the boy for his insomnia, but it had been nearly four days now, and both of them had barely slept. It was starting to wear on each of them. 

By the fourth night, Din was about ready to collapse, feeling shaky and irritable from lack of sleep. He was determined to try anything. Armor and helmet set off to the side, the dressed down Mandalorian had heated up synth-milk for the babe and rocked him in his hammock. When that didn’t work, he’d looked up children’s stories on the holonet and read them to Grogu, who’d cooed tiredly, but refused to drop off. Finally, he’d hefted the kid up into his arms and started pacing back and forth across the ship’s cargo bay, humming low and gently bouncing as he walked.

Something about the repetitive movement must have finally lulled the kid into settling down. After over an hour of pacing, the child had dropped off into what looked like a deep sleep, a little fist curling into Din’s undershirt. Breathing shakily with nervousness, the man had carefully extracted the toddler, setting him gently into his hammock and waiting with bated breath to see if the child would wake. When he didn’t, Din had sighed deeply and all but collapsed onto his bunk, immediately dropping into an exhausted sleep.

Unfortunately, the rest hadn’t lasted long.

-

Din sighed and shook his head, feeling the burning behind his eyes that hadn’t abated. They couldn’t have been asleep more than a couple hours, and already the child was awoken by nightmares. His muscles twitched and stiffened. _Maker_ , he just wanted to _sleep_ … an equally tired coo sounded mournfully from the bundle in his arms.

Curling his aching body protectively over Grogu, Din dropped his head softly to the child’s wrinkled forehead, pulling his knees up so that the child was cocooned in his lap. He sighed through his nose, warm breath washing over the little one.

“ _Ad’ika_ …” the man whispered softly, “ _ner ad’ika_ , I’ve got you. You’re safe, I’ve got you.”

The child sniveled and moaned a low warbling sound, reaching a hand up to brush tiny claws against Din’s cheek. Leaning back, Din saw large black eyes blinking up at him, glistening with tears. The crying had begun fading and hiccuping into low whimpers as the child calmed. Din stared down at him, arms tightening around the robes, feeling the little body press into his, clutching at his undershirt. His breath hitched, forming a lump in his throat.

A soft coo sounded up at him, questioning, hesitant. He swallowed around the lump.

“Yeah, kid, I’m here." He managed, earnestly. "I’m not going anywhere." The man frowned and pressed his nose to the soft head, thinking.

"Whatever… whatever you’re seeing in there, it’s not real, okay? You’re safe with me, I promise.” A soft warble sounded sadly as the kid buried his little green face into the man’s neck again. Din sighed wearily.

“You _gotta_ try to get some sleep, pal. We both do… we gotta be ready for whatever is waiting for us on Tython.”

At the sound of the planet, an indignant, muffled burble filtered up from the boy. 

“Bawawah, bato.”

“ _Ad’ika_ , you saw what the nice lady could do - she’s like you. That’s your kind, the Jedi. I- I can’t train you… you deserve to be with someone who can help you grow, help you learn about your powers. You were raised with the Jedi, weren’t you? Don’t you want to be with them again?”

An angry string of babbling sounded from the child and a little hand smacked against Din’s chest, like he was angry. Din sighed again.

“You’ll understand one day, kid.” He whispered sadly, rocking the little form gently. “You’ll look back and see that this was the best thing, that I did it for you.” 

A soft whimper sounded below him and Din squeezed his arms, resting his cheek against the small head again and breathing in the smell of the little body that he’d come to know so well. The man closed his eyes and wished that there was some other way… 

_But there wasn’t._ This was The Way. He tried to harden his heart at the thought, but instead, he felt it crack. Swallowing back the dread, he implored again. 

“In the meantime, you need to sleep, Grogu, _please_. And so do I. This has gone on for days, you’ve gotta be exhausted…” A tired mewl seemed to agree with him.

“Alright then, let’s try again, okay?” Uncurling stiffly, Din shuffled on his knees with the toddler in his arms, still clinging to him, towards the little hammock. He looked down. “C’mon kid, time to sleep for real.”

Just as he went to pull the child away, the kid let out a shrieking bawl, stubby arms scrabbling for Din’s neck. Jumping at the sound Din nearly dropped the kid and clutched him back to his chest quickly, a pulse of adrenaline washing through him at the near fumble. 

“Shh, shhh! Hey, hey,” He tried to quiet the kid, who only clutched at him harder. He felt his stomach drop at the keening sounds, both in defeat and worry. “What’s going on, kid? You don’t want your hammock?”

The little head shook against his chest, sniffling sadly.

Well, there was nothing for it then. He didn’t usually let the kid sleep beside him, both because he didn’t want to roll over onto him and also because it felt too… dangerous. He was already so attached… how was he ever going to give up the kid if he slept beside him every night? But the kid wasn’t having it, and Din was _exhausted_. Sod the rules, they desperately, _desperately_ needed sleep. 

Sighing in defeat, Din slumped back to his bed, the kid cradled securely to his chest.

“Alright, _ad’ika_ ," he croaked. "you win. You win. Let’s just get some sleep, okay? I’ll be right here.”

Settling back down on the thin mattress, Din looked up at the gray durasteel ceiling, feeling utterly spent. The small ball of warmth against his chest snuggled into him and cooed softly, sounding content for the first time in days. Din breathed out a shaky breath, feeling his heart swell with affection that he tried to trample down, but just couldn’t. Tears pricking at the edges of his eyes, he wondered how many more nights like this he had with the kid… Gingerly, he cupped both palms over the little bundle.

“I’m here, Grogu, I’ve got you… go to sleep, buddy… go to sleep…” He murmured in what he hoped was a low soothing voice, only to hear soft little snores already sounding from the small form. His eyes fluttered closed. _Thank kriff_. 

Listening to the little snores, feeling the rise and fall of kid’s breathing… a small, wry smile pulled at the corner of Din’s mouth. He was out in moments.

* * *

Soft, yellow light filtered into the room and shone through Grogu’s eyelids. He opened his eyes. He was in the crèche, his crèchemates nowhere to be seen. He tensed. He knew his scene. Tranquility would be overtaken by darkness… he started to feel afraid...

Dropping over the edge of his cot, he landed lightly on the floor and started to waddle-run out of the crèche, hoping he could escape the darkness this time. The hallways were empty. Sounds of clashing far off reached his ears and he stopped, ears drooping with fear. He didn’t know what to do... Where was Master Anoona? Where was Master Yoda? Why was he all alone? Starting to cry, Grogu curled in on himself, wrapping his tiny hands over his head. _Alone. Lost. Scared._

He could feel the darkness coming for him, like it always did. It was close... No! No-

“ _Grogu._ ”

A strong, deep voice spoke. It filled him with warmth. All the other scary sounds had fallen away. Uncurling his arms from his head, Grogu’s ears perked up and he opened his eyes. Before him was a man in shining silver armor. He was kneeling and holding out a hand. Familiar leather gloves with orange fingertips and gleaming silver wristbands reached out to him. _Home. Safe. Father._

“I’ve got you, kid.” The man said. His father said. It filled the space around him. The voice was confident, unwavering. Nothing could hurt him when he was with father. Nothing could scare his father, not even the darkness. Grogu ran into the man’s waiting arms and the moment they enclosed around him the darkness disappeared, the temple disappeared. All he could feel was _warmth, love, safet_ y.

“I’ve got you, _ad’ika_.” The voice said.

* * *

Curled up against the Mandalorian, rising and falling with each deep, slow breath, Grogu slept.


End file.
